Butterfly Facts - Your Online Source for Facts about Butterflies

• Butterfly facts reveal that the only place in the world with no butterflies is Antarctica.

• Butterflies taste with their feet.

• If you research butterfly facts, you will find that there are 24,000 species of butterflies.

• The largest butterfly is approximately twelve inches across while the smallest is a mere 1/8 inch.

• The lifespan of an adult butterfly is on average two weeks.

• Butterflies are daytime creatures while moths are active at night.

• Monarch butterfly facts indicate they migrate 2000 miles.

• Some butterflies can fly as fast as 20 mph.

• Most butterflies have a wing span of 2 to 3 inches.

• Many people grow gardens specifically to attract butterflies.

• The male butterfly gives off pheromones, which are scents to specifically attract a mate of the same species.

• Most butterfly eggs are the size of a period. Some are microscopic.

• The life cycle of the butterfly consists of four stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and adult.

• Butterflies can see just about all colors.

• It is the color of the female wing pattern that attracts the male butterfly.

• A butterfly can’t fly if its body temperature is under 86 degrees.

• Recorded butterfly facts reveal that the largest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandria’s birdwing of New Guinea, who has a wingspan of approximately one foot.

• The smallest butterfly has a wingspan of 0.5 inches.

• The butterfly with the longest life is the Brimstone butterfly, which lives ten months.

• You can attract butterflies into your backyard with sugar water.

• Drawings of butterflies have been found in Ancient Egypt.

• While some butterflies eat nectar and in turn, pollinate the plant, some do not.

• The caterpillar is one of the most often mentioned insects in the Bible.

• The German word for butterfly means milk thief.

• As a protective measure, some butterflies have two eyes on their wings to confuse predators.

• Butterflies do not urinate or defecate. If one drinks too much water they will expel it from their abdomen.

• Butterflies take several hours to dry after emerging from the pupa.

• A caterpillar will eat 27,000 times its own body weight.

• A butterfly does not sleep.

• Caterpillars have twelve eyes.

• Male butterflies are territorial and will fight with other males.

• Butterfly facts indicate that the eye of a butterfly is made up of 60,000 lenses.

• A person who studies butterflies is called a lepidopterist.

• North America has 700 different species of butterflies.

• Caterpillars have no bones at all but they have over 1000 muscles.

• The Monarch and some other butterflies produce toxins that keep away predators.

• Butterflies can see ultraviolet light.

• Puddling is what it’s called when butterflies gather in wet areas to draw minerals out of the ground.

• Butterflies do not eat, bite or chew.

• Butterflies smell with their antennae.